Summers: Memorable Days and Unforgettable Nights
by Saayu-chan
Summary: Sakura and her friends rent a house next to the beach for the summer. While the gang is there they meet new people and make a few new friends. And whether its just the heat of the summer or something else, friendships become something more. GaaSaku
1. First Impressions

**Okay, it's been about a year. I **_**finally**_** have access to Microsoft Word again. I also have a few decent ideas that will help string together point A to point B in the plot development, which I had been having problems with. So I figured to start off the new installments of the story, I'd revamp the previous chapters; also, to re-familiarize myself with the story-line. Haha. So, enjoy!**

**Chapter One:**  
**First Impressions**

A sixteen-year-old girl, Sakura, sat in the passenger seat of a car. She twirled her pink hair with her fingers as she stared with boredom out the window.

'Well I suppose things could be worse.' She thought to herself.

She brought her attention away from the window to momentarily look at the back seat. Three teenagers sat very uncomfortably in a space meant for two. On the left-most side of the seat sat a blonde haired boy. He was in a black T-shirt, not wearing his usual fluorescent orange jacket over top due to the heat. Along with jean shorts that went just below the knee. His dramatically blue eyes were squinted in a glare aimed at the boy on the other side of the seat.

This boy had black hair that was styled much like a chicken's ass. He wore a gray button down shirt, slightly unbuttoned with the sleeves pushed up, and a loosely tied blue tie. The entire ensemble looked very laid-back, but had a precise laxity to it. He'd opted to wear tight-fitted dark jeans. His intense black eyes were rimmed with a bit of eyeliner, and his gaze was also in a glare aimed at the blonde on the other side of the car.

Both boys were acting as if the girl in the middle of the seat wasn't even there. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail. She was wearing a light blue tank top and light faded low-rider Levi's. Her face was scrunched up in anger as she was squished between the two. Her blue eyes glacing around anxiously landed upon her pink-haired friend. She looked as pleading as possible. Sakura smiled flippantly along with and internal chuckling, but was altogether unmoved.

'Oh yes, It could've been a lot worse.' Sakura thought to herself as she turned back to gaze out the window. She had on a snug fitting green T-shirt. In white letters across the front it read 'I bite'. The T-shirt was faded and had a vintage look and feel to it. She had chosen to wear dark Roxy shorts, exposing a lot of leg. Her green eyes were thickly rimmed with eyeliner. Her pink hair was worn down, and fell to her shoulder blades. She wore a hair-tie around her wrist at all times so that she could put her hair up at anytime.

She watched as the scenery started to go by increasingly slowly, until the car came to a stop. She turned to look at the driver. He had short dark brown hair and black eyes. His facial features made him resemble an innocent puppy; much like the one that was lying in her lap. Akamaru had to be the cutest dog she'd ever met; a mix between a Jack Russell terrier, Border terrier, and Pomeranian. The driver, Kiba, had on a gray T-shirt and khaki shorts. He turned to Sakura and smiled, revealing slightly-larger-than-normal canines. She smiled back then opened the door. Akamaru perked up from his nap and hopped out of the car, yipping and running around.

Sakura laughed and stepped out of the car stretching.

"It's so good to be out of that seat. That had to be the longest I've ever been in a car." Sakura said aloud.

"Well duh," another voice rang out sounding deep and male with a bored tone "we were in it for, what, 14 hours?" It was the black haired boy, Sasuke.

"Shut up, asshole! You don't have to be so rude to Sakura!" The blonde boy spoke unnecessarily loud. That's Naruto for you though.

"No. Why don't you all shut up?! I didn't see any of you crammed between the two, like, bitchiest hormone-crazed teenage boys ever for the entire ride!" This was shrieked out by the blonde girl, Ino. The statement was followed by two cries of 'Hey!'

"Don't blame me. We flipped a coin, fair's fair. I called heads and got the front seat." Sakura said raising her hands defensively.

Ino sighed, knowing it was true, but still not liking the fact she had to be so uncomfortable.

"If you guys hadn't noticed, we're here." Kiba declared. With that all the others turned to see they had stopped in front of a cozy looking two story house that sat right next to a boardwalk. The long dock was drizzled with light sand, so of course when Ino noticed this she squealed, "OHMIGAWD! You got us a place next to the beach!"

"Well, when I was looking around I found this place; they're renting it out for the summer. It's not exactly huge, but if Sakura and Ino share a room then Naruto, Sasuke, and I can share another." Kiba stated.

"I'm not sharing a room with the idiot." Sasuke said and all but turned up his nose.

"Then you can take the couch." Kiba said and Sasuke immediately retracted his statement. He may not like Naruto, but there's just no way he would ever sleep on a couch willingly.

The five all grabbed their things and headed into the house. It was cold inside, whether from lack of occupancy or just constant air-conditioning they didn't know, but it was a welcome change from the heat of outside and in the cramped space of the car.

The bedrooms were all upstairs so, one by one, they climbed up the narrow spiraling staircase. Everything about this house was tiny, but it was actually very big. The rooms were twice normal size.

Sakura and Ino chose to take the room that's above the garage at the front of the house, furthest from the direction of the beach, closest to the road.

There was a large closet, though it wasn't walk-in, and only one bed. But as the two girls stepped into the room they noticed another narrow staircase that lead upwards.

"There's a loft! That's so cool!" Ino whisper-shouted. She didn't want the boys to hear or they might come to claim the room as their own.

"You can take the loft. I'd rather be down here." Sakura said.

'One less staircase I'd have to climb down after I wake up.' She thought. She hurled her bag onto her self-proclaimed new bed. As she unpacked her things into an empty dresser she frowned. She needed new stuff, but she couldn't go out shopping for a while.

When she finished unpacking, she called up to Ino who had unpacked in a dresser she'd found up there. They headed out of the room. When they stepped outside their room it opened up. There were two doors, one to the right of them and one to the left. The door to the left of them was cracked open and they could see it was a bathroom; the other door was closed though. In the room they were in now there was a couch and two recliners, all oversized and in bright childish colors. There were large windows on the right side of the room that made the room so bright, you wanted to dance. It was adorably decorated.

Further into the room the space merged into a hall. A set of stairs lead downstairs the way they'd came, and finally there was another door, at the end of the hallway. It was open so Sakura and Ino knew it was the room the boys were sharing. They decided to check it out.

The room was very large it had four beds, something Sakura found strange.

"You know there was an extra bed up in the loft too. That's weird." Ino said. The two girls left for downstairs.

"Kiba, are we expecting company this summer?" Sakura asked at the bottom of the stairs to the boys who were sitting on the couches talking and laughing. Kiba stopped laughing and froze then slowly smiled.

'Guilty.' Sakura thought.

"Well yeah, the owners of the house didn't want to leave for the summer, but I begged them to let us stay because this is the best location I could find, ya know? There's three of them: two boys and a girl. All of them are around our age and they're siblings. The house is big enough, and they're nice. So it should be fine. …Right?" Kiba answered. Everyone nodded; it was an undeniably good find.

"So where are they now?" Ino asked.

"Well Kankuro and Temari said they'd be on the beach and Gaara's out grocery shopping, I think they said." Kiba said.

After the group talked a bit they decided to head to the beach, but Sakura still felt disgusting from the car ride and wanted a shower before she went anywhere. So she grabbed her bathing suit and hopped into the upstairs bathroom.

She was in the shower for a while when she heard noise downstairs, so she figured that the group had come inside, bored with the beach and sick of waiting.

Still she put on her bathing suit, a white bikini with polka-dots all over in various shades of green. The strings on the bikini top were a pale pink along with the ties on the sides of the bikini bottoms.

She rang out the water from her hair then put it up in a messy ponytail that always looked great on her; though she had no idea why.

She grabbed a big fluffy white towel and went downstairs. The sight that greeted her was not the gang. It was an unfamiliar male. He was about four or five inches taller than her. He had shaggy red hair. Not the typical red hair, that is actually more orange than red, but actual red hair, like he just dumped Kool-Aid all over himself. He had on a black T-shirt that was baggy on him, and baggy black jean shorts.

He turned away from the counter where he'd just finished putting away groceries, and was looking right at her. He had eyes intense like Sasuke's but they were green like hers. She smiled at him and waved.

"Hello, I'm Sakura Haruno. You must be Gaara. Nice to meet you. I'm headed to the beach did you want to come?"

"Hn."

"I mean I could wait for you to change into your trunks?"

"Hn."

"Is that a no?" She deadpanned, used to these types of mono-syllabic answers from Sasuke.

An audible sigh escaped him and he answered, "One minute."

Sure enough exactly one minute later he came down with only black trunks on and a fluffy white towel over his shoulder. He nodded at her and they started out the door.

She started talking again, about various things. Then settled on the topic of her friends, who would be sharing the house with them as well.

"Ino is a bit self-absorbed, but she's my best friend and I love her. Kiba is nice, he's very protective of me, but all my guy friends are like that. Sasuke is…a lot like you. He doesn't talk much and he has those intense eyes. I know it's because he's been through so much, but I still think it's amazing." Sakura turned to look at Gaara, who was looking at her; he appeared to be actually listening to what she was saying.

"Did you have a difficult past?" She asked her eyes changing with her emotions.

"Hn."

"Ah. How very interesting. Thank you for confiding that in me." She said sarcastically. "Anyway, onto Naruto. He's very-"

She was interrupted. They had reached the end of the boardwalk and the aforementioned blonde was rushing at them full speed with sand billowing up behind him. While he hurtled like he was in the Olympics he screamed at the top of his lungs "Sakura!"

When he got close enough he appeared to tackle her but really it was more of a hug. Sakura giggled at first but after a few seconds when Naruto had yet to let go she started beating him over the head shouting.

"Naruto! You saw me _five minutes ago_! Let me go! You can't possibly have missed me this much!"

Naruto let Sakura go and waggled his eyebrows "Or can I?"

Sakura sighed and walked onward towards the group who were laughing hysterically and –given the direction they were pointing- it was probably at her. She started jogging to her friends and realized they were in fact laughing at her. More at Naruto, though.

She didn't recognize two people in the group. A tall girl with dirty blonde hair pulled into a pony-tail, she assumed this was Temari. She was very tan, and had blue green eyes. She was wearing a purple bikini, with grey swim trunks.

The other was a boy, Kankuro, equally as tan. He had brown shaggy surfer hair, and black eyes. He was in black and purple swim trunks.

Both stopped laughing when they noticed the red-head that was standing behind Sakura. They glanced to Sakura and basically gaped at her like fish out of water.

"You got Gaara out of the house? You got Gaara out of the house and _onto the beach_?" Temari said flabbergasted.

Sakura gave her a weird look and nodded as if confronting a Kindergartener. "I said I was going to the beach. I asked if he wanted to come. He came. It was a simple exchange." Sakura said.

She rolled her eyes and looked out to the beach, it was a hot day and the waves were great. She wasn't much of a surfer though. She turned to the group, "Does anyone have a boogie board or skim board I can use?"

Kankuro stepped up to her and put an arm around her waist and guided her toward the house. "Yes, we have a few. Let me show you where they are."

"No Lecher, if you take her in the house you'll probably rape her, and you have a girlfriend to stay faithful to. Just let me take her." said a voice. Kankuro turned to find it was his brother. He was too shocked to stop say anything in his defense as they walked off.

_**AGHK**_

Inside the house again Gaara walked off and came back with a small black boogie-board and a long white surf board with red, black and grey decorative patterns on it. It was scuffed up from what was probably repetitive use.

"So, you surf?" Sakura asked as they stepped back outside.

"Used to."

'And we're back to the non-sentences. Awesome!' She thought to herself sarcastically.

They were silent until they reached the beach; Sakura not seeing a point in the one-sided conversations anymore. The others were spread out now. Ino and Temari had chosen to lie out and improve their tans. Kankuro, Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke were chasing each other around and splashing in the water. It made them look…well not very masculine, but it looked like fun nonetheless.

Sakura looked over to Gaara, who was looking at the idiot boys. She smiled and proposed "Race you to the water?"

Gaara looked at her and his face showed what he thought of the idea. How elementary school. But of course Sakura didn't care. She just giggled and darted off toward the water.

Sakura soon found it was much harder to run in the sand than she previously thought. Instead of using the force of your feet to propel you further like you would on solid ground, the sand squished under the pressure and just sucked the power. Like running the wrong way on a moving walkway, or having a rug pulled out from under you when you are running at top speed. It takes a lot of energy to keep your footing and propel forward.

She had overcome the heat of the day; she was creating her own wind. Her hair was swishing from side to side in her ponytail. Every breath was filled with the salty scent of the beach water and the earthy smell of the sand. As Sakura was racing forward with her board hooked under her arm, she felt a gust of wind separate from the wind she was creating as Gaara went buzzing past her.

She smiled, always loving a challenge. Sakura always ran better when someone was in front of her. She focused in on him and set the goal to pass him, she let that be the only thing running through her mind. She could feel new surges of adrenaline and she pumped further, faster, stronger.

She was gaining, but he was fast. She got close, she was only two or three inches behind him, when he reached water.

She stopped pumping forward, but the momentum carried her a few more steps until she stopped, the water gliding across her feet. Cool and refreshing.

She turned back to Gaara, both of them were panting and their bodies glistened with sweat. She smiled and walked over to him.

"You're pretty damn fast. I give you serious props." She said to him using a hand to wipe away a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Hn. You weren't that far behind me, you could have beaten me." He answered beginning to walk into the water.

"Oh, but I had a head start. So don't be so modest, I'm trying to compliment you here." She smiled walking past him into the water and as it began splashing against her thighs, she dived in.

The water was cool and it cleansed her of all her sweat and grime. As the saltwater encompassed her she had a thought. That boy, Gaara, something about him made her feel different. She hadn't decided what it was or whether it was good, yet.

As Sakura floated in the water, her upper torso resting on the board with the rest of her body hanging off, her hands gripped the board to maintain balance and help steer. She began to zone out thinking of random memories. Slowly, gingerly, she was pulled backwards. By the time she came-to she was already being brought to the top of a wave. It wasn't a huge wave, but it certainly wasn't small.

She paddled with her arms and then held on to her board. Soon she was being carried on top of the wave, almost flying. By the time the wave approached shore it had wound down quite a bit. Sakura realized that the wave could've toppled over her and the under current could've drowned her. For some reason she found this amusing, her mother had always said having her head in the clouds would kill her someday.

The water was severely shallow because the wave had dropped her off by the shore; she rolled off of the board and onto her back. She giggled at the odd humor she'd found in her near death experience, and the light frothy leftovers of waves glided across her skin then back out again.

When her giggles receded, she lifted her upper body and rested her weight on her elbows, looking out at the ocean.

There were many boys surfing out on the decent waves. Most of them more buff in the arms and upper torso. She could hear the squishing and sloshing of someone approaching. The wet sand and water made it harder to sneak up on someone, she'd decided.

As the noises stopped near her she continued to stare out at the ocean.

"It's beautiful, the ocean here. I've never seen water so clear and blue, like it's some kind of liquid glass." She looked next to her, where the person was standing. She looked up and saw that it was Gaara standing there, looking out at the ocean.

His hair was wet and strands were sticking to his forehead, while the rest pointed off in random directions. His body was damp but for the most part dry. He had been surfing for a while. Sakura inwardly wondered how long she was out of it.

She continued "But I guess, if you live out here, you get used to it. It loses its beauty and becomes something that's just there."

"Just because something is always there," he looked down at Sakura, who was now looking up at him, "doesn't mean that it's less special. Most people take the good things in their life for granted and focus on the bad. Complaining about what could be better. But if all you have is bad, then you focus on the good things and are thankful for them. It never loses its beauty."

Satisfied with his answer Sakura nodded then looked back out to the ocean. Gaara's gaze, however, remained on Sakura. Sakura was different. He was certainly not going to take her for granted. He would get to know her.

_**AGHK**_

Later on, Sakura decided to go check on the others, while Gaara went to go shower.

She saw that the group had gathered together and were chatting openly. They had taken all of the towels and placed them around each other and made what looked like a picnic blanket. They were seated in a big circle, but they had separated into separate groups as well, discussing different things.

Sakura giggled at the sight of all of her friends.

"Hey guys. I'm heading in now ok?" Sakura said turning to leave.

"And Gaara?"

It was an innocent enough question but Ino had said it in a teasing tone. The one you'd expect from a family member -maybe a close uncle or aunt- about your first boyfriend. Simple, playful teasing, but Sakura knew what it meant.

Sakura herself didn't exactly know where her feelings stood with him. It seemed like they'd just met. The group had been outside for around five to six hours. Sakura and Gaara had spent the entirety of the time together. Talking and not talking, but comfortable all the same.

Gaara wasn't an ugly boy but he wasn't outstandingly gorgeous either. Yet, she felt so strongly attracted to him. He was comforting and disorienting at the same time. He was gentlemanly, which was rare in boys these days, but he was slightly cruel and teasing at times. They would have completely one-sided conversations in which she talked of anything that crossed her mind. One conversation's topics ranged from fruits to how she missed the classic television shows to how the environment was on a slow decline. There were logical sentences and topics that connected them, but still the range of the conversation was unbelievable.

It was astonishing mostly because during the conversation Gaara said not one word and spent most of the time looking in odd directions, just looking. He would appear to not be paying any attention whatsoever, but if she even paused for a breath for a beat longer than usual he would look at her. His gaze intense and pressing her to continue, his eyes filled with interest that hadn't been there seconds ago.

Other conversations were very logical and grounded; didn't float around so many topics. In these more debate like conversations Gaara would speak full paragraphs, detailed with an elaborate vocabulary. Then he would go back to monosyllabic answers as the topic was settled.

He utterly confused her. She felt that she knew him so well, like they'd been talking for weeks now, but it was only hours. She realized now that she knew very little about him, though he also knew nothing about her. By now they knew each-other's personality quirks just as well as their friends and family, but as far as pasts the two had silently agreed to silence; though that would change, hopefully.

So honestly, Sakura didn't know if she had a crush on Gaara. She did know that he intrigued her. She knew that by the end of this summer she would crack him, she would know everything there was to know about him.

…Perhaps starting with his last name.

_**Posted: July 31 2007  
Revamped: December 27, 2008**_


	2. Under The Circumstances

**Sorry this one wasn't out right away. I kept getting distracted and putting it off, but I got it done bit by bit. On to the next one, and then HEY- new chapters to look forward to! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Two:**  
**Under The Circumstances**

Later on the group finally went inside, most considerably tanner and some sunburned. They discussed what they should have for dinner.

"I don't want to go out. I don't want to get in another car until, like, at _least_ tomorrow." Ino said sitting in a rocking chair in the living room downstairs.

"Well, Gaara just went to get groceries, so we're eating something from the stuff that we have." Kankuro said not wanting to make two trips to the store.

Everyone threw out ideas of what to make, everything was argued about, agreed upon, reconsidered and then eventually shot down entirely. While everyone was bickering Sakura got up from her position leaning against the wall and made her way to the counter. Gaara was leaning against the counter with his eyes closed, just thinking. Sakura smiled and moved around him in her quest.

Soon she had all the ingredients she needed. She could still hear everyone arguing and smirked. She turned on the stove and grabbed the large black pot she'd collected. She filled it with water then set it onto the heated coil of the stove.

She grabbed the package of spaghetti, opened it and poured them into the large bowl. She grabbed the second package and did the same. She had many people to feed.

When the water started boiling she stirred it and turned down the stove to a lower temperature. While she waited she got out a large strainer and enough plates for everyone. She got out a small package of mozzarella cheese and some Prego tomato sauce. With a smaller pan she started another coil on the stove and heated up some of the sauce.

When the noodles were done she asked Gaara to strain them, because he had offered to help after coming out of his daze and smelling the food. While Gaara strained the noodles she prepared everything. She grabbed two full scoops of noodles in each bowl, put an 8th teaspoon of butter mixed it in then put a sprinkle of mozzarella on top. The mozzarella melted when it made contact with the hot noodles. Last she would put the sauce over top. She did this for every single plate then set each plate down at the table.

Not surprisingly when she went into the living room the group was still arguing, now half-heartedly. They were all laying or sagging in chairs or on couches. Now though more often than a food proposition they simply stated that they were hungry.

"Ugh. I'm so hungry I think I can smell food." Kiba said.

"Yeah, me too." Naruto added.

Sakura giggled and got the attention of everyone.

"No you dumbasses. You smell the _actual_ food I just finished cooking. It's ready and sitting on the table for you all." Sakura said smiling.

In about a split second there was a gust of air across her and everyone was gone murmuring a 'thanks' or a 'you're the best, Sakura'.

She walked back to the kitchen and took the only empty seat at the large table. She sat between Ino and Temari. Everyone enjoyed their meal thoroughly.

"God Sakura, where did you learn to cook?" Temari gasped as she continued to shovel down her food.

Ino answered for her "Sakura used to be a home nurse. She would go to the homes of elderly people who couldn't afford going to a facility, and help them."

Sakura continued "I learned a lot from that, I cleaned and I organized, I decorated and I delegated, and most importantly I learned how to cook a lot of things. All of the houses had billions of cook books and when the patients rested during the day I really had nothing else to do. Plus I had to learn to cook a variety of things so that I could please any patient."

After everyone finished eating they decided that since it was only 8 o'clock they would take a nap and go out to a teen club at around 11.

Sakura, Ino and Temari shared a room. Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba and Kankuro shared a room and Gaara stayed in the room that had the door closed earlier.

Sakura wondered to herself why Gaara slept alone. But let the thought pass. Everyone fell asleep shortly and slept soundly.

_**AGHK**_

Sakura woke up and rested in bed for a little bit before she let her eyes flutter open. She got out of bed and stretched, soon missing the warmth of her covers. She walked out of her allotted bed room and went into the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and brushed her teeth.

Everyone had unpacked everything after they had come back inside from the beach. So the bathroom was full of hers and Ino's things. She walked into the bedroom and looked at the clock. 10:30 pm.

She walked up the narrow stairwell to the loft to wake up Ino and Temari, who both nearly strangled her for waking them. Then they nearly strangled her again for not waking them early enough. As the girls rushed around loudly getting ready, they woke the boys. Soon everyone was up and getting ready, everyone with the exception of Gaara.

Everyone decided that someone should go in and check on him. He had been in his room for the entire 30 minutes that everyone had been hustling and bustling about. Sakura was volunteered to go. By volunteered I mean everyone decided she would be the least likely to die.

Cautiously she approached the door and opened it slowly. With the way everyone acted about it you'd think he kept live alligators in there. Hungry ones, at that.

Sakura opened the door only enough for her to slip through and shut it behind her. But it was dark. Not only because no lights were on, but the sun had gone down long ago and the drawn curtains were blocking out the moonlight. But Sakura's eyes adjusted quickly.

Gaara was lying in his bed, the rise and fall of his chest indicated he was at least alive. Sakura was relieved. She started to look around the room. She walked over to the window and in one swift movement pulled the string and separated them. Glimmers of pale light flooded the room instantaneously.

She heard rustling and an angry growl. She turned around and saw the boy curled up in a ball under his blankets. Sakura couldn't help herself and just burst with laughter.

Slowly the sheets rose, obviously Gaara had awaken and got up, still under the sheets. Sakura continued to laugh and at the sight she laughed harder –something she'd thought wasn't possible.

The sheets were tossed to the floor in a blur and Sakura was being pressed into the wall. Gaara was standing in front of her with a hand firmly pushing her shoulder to the wall.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" He growled out, voice croaky from sleep.

"Well, good morning Starshine, the Earth says 'Hello'! You know, you have awfully bad morning breath. You should go brush your teeth." Sakura said smiling, not at all fazed by the "tough guy" act that Sasuke used to pull with her all the time. Well, before he switched personalities on her when he came out of the closet.

Gaara snarled angrily with a hint of pink at his cheeks and ducked away from Sakura.

"What the hell? It's not morning; it's barely eleven at night!" Gaara shouted and turned to find Sakura was no longer against the wall.

She was making his bed. Gaara just looked at her oddly for a while. After she finished making his bed she walked over to his dresser.

"Which drawer has your clothes in it?" She asked him firmly.

"Hn."

"I suggest you tell me now, or I'll just start going through all of your drawers."

"Hn"

"…And at least one of them has your underwear in them, I'm sure. Unless you don't wear any? I guess we'll find out." She reached to open the first drawer.

Gaara's eyes widened, he glared at her "Last two drawers and the closet."

Sakura squat down and looked through his designated drawers.

"Look, we'll be leaving soon, and I still have to get ready, too. Go brush your teeth and take care of the monster breath. Get cleaned up, I'm picking your clothes."

"I'm not-"

"MOVE! NOW!"

Gaara was amazed that the lithe girl had this much daring. He quickly shuffled out of the room, flustered.

Sakura picked out his outfit shortly. Choosing his _only_ pair of jeans that weren't ridiculously over-baggy; it was straight-legged blue jeans. She also chose a black long sleeved shirt –the night had brought in cold ocean air- and a maroon over-shirt. She'd assumed it wouldn't look too baggy on him.

She walked out of the room and over to her own, getting eyed by a few others. When she stepped into the room Temari and Ino were sitting on her bed chatting. They stopped and turned to look at her.

"So, like, what happened?" Ino asked, though Temari looked as if she was very interested in her answer.

"What do you mean?" Sakura said opening the drawer.

Temari answered with "What she means is: you go into Gaara's room, there's giggling and growling, then yelling. Then Gaara comes rushing out of the room straight to the bathroom blushing like mad. What the heck happened in there?"

"Ha, nothing really. He was being silly, so I laughed at him. He didn't like waking up so he growled at me. I yelled at him because he wouldn't listen to me. He was embarrassed by that I guess. Simple." Sakura pulled out some clothes.

She grabbed black fishnets and a pair of blue jean short-shorts. Then pulled out a black shirt that was tight in the stomach and then loose in the top and off the shoulder. She decided to do accessories after she got dressed.

She put on all her clothes then went to her top drawer for the accessories she'd brought. She pulled out a red studded belt and a bunch of colorful thin plastic bracelets. She separated out all the black colored bracelets and any red ones as well.

She knew it would seem like she'd color-coordinated with Gaara, but she didn't care, she was in a black and red mood at the moment anyway. She put on a comfy pair of black converses.

Sakura knew she'd get away with this because Kankuro had mentioned earlier that the teen clubs in the area were more punk-oriented. Just her style, really.

She leaned onto the bed where Temari and Ino still sat chatting, already dressed.

"You girls mind helping me? Go check on the boys while I go finish getting ready."

"Fine, but you get to check on your blushing bride." Ino said smirking, then left the room with Temari.

Sakura rolled her eyes then put her hair up in a ponytail and made sure it would hold and not make her hair look overly messy, just perfectly messy enough.

She put on eyeliner and misted on some citrus-floral perfume. Satisfied with her look in the mirror she walked over to Gaara's room. She knocked then ducked her head in; Gaara was just spraying on cologne. He turned and nodded, so Sakura closed the door and headed downstairs with everyone else.

Naruto was wearing a semi-baggy electric blue shirt with black straight-jeans. He had on a wrist-band too, electric blue to match his shirt.

Sasuke was in a semi-tight black T-shirt that said 'fuck' on it in white letters in the front. He had on destroyed skinny blue jeans. His eyes donned the usual eyeliner and he had on a black belt.

Kiba was dressed similar to Naruto with a grey shirt and blue jeans along with a few black wrist-bands.

Kankuro had on a purple shirt and black straight-jeans.

Ino was wearing a short blue jean skirt and a low-cut light blue shirt with a black long sleeve shirt underneath. She had on several blue bracelets on.

Temari was in tight skinny jeans and a light purple tank top with a black choker around her neck.

Sakura felt very comfortable in her clothes and with the group. They all looked like they were together. Sakura jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Goosebumps ran down her back and arms and she turned to see Gaara.

She'd never really looked at his face before; not closely at least. His skin was extremely pale for someone who lives next to a beach. He had light freckles, barely even noticeable, scattered across his cheeks; his eyes were intense, but she had noticed that. The outer ring on them was deep green and as it went inward toward the pupil it faded to light blue. So gorgeous. He's not the most obviously handsome boy. He's not someone you'd look twice at, unless you've looked twice. Once you've seen him, really seen him, you can't not notice how striking he is.

Sakura smiled and turned back to her friends.

"So I guess we're ready." Temari said and the group headed out.

_**AGHK**_

When the group stepped up to the front of the line the bouncer smiled at the girls and waved them through, they guys had a little more trouble, but made it in nonetheless. They were soon inside 'The Basement' a teen club that had several bouncers out front and heavy surveillance, because it allowed underage drinking.

Inside the club, they noticed that there were very few girls in the club. Sakura, Ino and Temari wanted to head out to the dance floor but were almost immediately offered a drink by a group of men.

None of the boys were really Sakura's type so she quickly downed her drink and wound through the crowd to the dance floor.

The DJ was pumping a weird spin of music. So far he appeared to play punk or rock songs with a techno back-beat. It was weird but very tempting to dance to.

Currently 'The Last Night' by Skillet was playing with a techno back beat remixed and sped up a little. Sakura was dancing in the crowd. She was surrounded by guys who were getting increasingly aggressive and couldn't see anywhere around her to plot an escape. She was saved though, when Ino and Temari weaved their way through and started to dance with her.

With the three girls grinding and gyrating against each other the guys just seemed to huddle more, though. The girls eventually get through and left for another drink: Sakura taking two shots of tequila and Temari and Ino taking fruity beverages with barely any liquor.

The girls went over to a table where they saw a couple of the very few girls in the club flirting with the boys of the group.

Ino chuckled and gestured for Sakura to look at Gaara. He seemed to be the only one not enjoying his female companion. She was talking and talking and talking, moving closer and closer and Gaara's eyes displayed absolute horror and disgust. The girl was apparently not taking the hint though.

Sakura laughed and strolled over to him. She stood next to him and put a hand _very_ high on his thigh and squeezed. She smiled and turned to the girl.

"Hello, I'm Sakura, and you are?" She said managing to sound slightly pissed off but polite.

"Um, Melinda. I was, like, totally talking to Garret, here, do you mind?"

Sakura laughed and replied "I suppose I do mind." Then she shoved the girl a little.

"Then, like, don't watch." The girl answered with a smug smile and shoved Sakura to the side very forcefully, with what was probably all of her strength.

Sakura had it. She shifted to the girl, who had her hands resting on Gaara's inner thigh. Sakura put her hand around the girl's neck and slammed her into a wall.

"Listen, bitch. I suggest you tote your boney, AIDS-infested ass over to the bar. Find someone who's actually desperate enough to want you. Or maybe just have a few more drinks. Either way, get your _crack whore_ ass the _fuck_ away from _him_."

"Unless you're, like, his girlfriend, I think Garret can, like, totally speak for himself, 'kay?"

Sakura just couldn't take it anymore, something inside her flared.

"Can't you see he doesn't fucking want you here? Get away, you disgusting slut." But the girl just rolled her eyes and smiled at "Garret".

'She's intruding on what's mine.' Her mind logically provided. Sakura knew she'd have to think that one through later but as for now she'd had a bit too much to drink for any deep thought. So she drew back her fist and planted it in the girls face.

There was crying and whining, but she left the area and actually fled the bar entirely. Sakura sighed when she turned to face the group.

The girls that had been flirting with the guys smiled and some actually clapped. "That girl is such a bitch. Not the brightest bulb, either. She comes here basically every night, and every time she leaves with a different guy. It's pretty disgusting, really." Said a girl that was sitting in Kankuro's lap.

"I'm sorry, my name's Kaitlynn. Everyone just calls me Kat though." Judging by the way she wrapped her arms around Kankuro and kissed him deeply, the two were an item.

Naruto had a girl standing with him, short and smiling.

Sasuke was nowhere to be seen.

Kiba was on the dance floor with some girls. And Gaara was sitting there staring straight ahead with an odd look on his face that couldn't be placed.

Ino and Temari stepped over to the table and took a seat. Ino waved a hand in front of Gaara's face, but he didn't respond.

"So are you and Gaara…" Kat inquired.

"Uh…no actually…" Sakura said trying to fight the heat that was quickly rising to her cheeks.

"Oh man, I seriously need a drink." Sakura said walking away quickly to the bar for a few more shots of tequila.

"Ya know, Gaara. That girl obviously likes you, and she seems a _lot_ better than your ex." Kat offered settling her head against Kankuro.

Gaara's head shook and turned to Kat. "Sakura doesn't like me, ok. I'm not the kind of guy she'd get involved with." He turned back to looking straight ahead.

"Okay, listen. I've known Sakura for, like, ever. She's been hanging out with you _all_ day, pretty much since we arrived. She's been totally nice to you, as far as I know. And she just stood up for you and got rid of that gross-like slut girl." Ino said.

"Okay. So she's being nice to me, she's a nice person. That's not too surprising."

"_No-o-o-o._ Think about the sitch. She saw a girl , like, hanging all over you. She tried to get her to leave. It ended with Sakura punching her slutty ass in the face. She was _jealous_, because she _likes you_. It's totally obvious." Ino said looking over to Sakura who was currently downing another shot. "now she's drinking because she's embarrassed."

Gaara huffed and still did not believe them. But he stood and walked over to the bar where Sakura was.

"Sakura. Stop drinking. Please?"

She turned slowly and looked up at Gaara. She seemed very childish then, like a young five year old. The defiance blazed through her and she replied "No."

"How many have you had?"

Sakura brought up her hands and started counting fingers. She was oblivious to how adorable she seemed to him at the moment.

"Nine." She said holding up that many fingers, she looked at them carefully and then grinned wide when she saw they were the right amount. Her eyes were bloodshot, she was clearly wasted.

The DJ switched the songs again and put on his techno remix of 'Rock and Roll Queen' by The Subways. Sakura squealed and grabbed Gaara's hand and dragged him to the dance floor. Sakura began to dance overenthusiastically. Gaara stood there, feeling awkward. After a little bit Sakura noticed he wasn't dancing and insisted on showing him how.

"Look, put your hands _he-are_." She slurred, her back facing his front, she put his hand on her upper waist. "Then you juss move. Juss go with yur _insinks_." She said drunkenly.

She began to "dance". She ground against him uncomfortably close. Her pace was at least matching the beat of the music. Gaara slowly unintentionally began to grind to the rhythm as well.

About mid song Sakura turned so they were face to face. Her dancing became erratic and no longer matched the beat, but some separate song playing in her head. Gaara continued to grind to her pace, though.

Looking back on it Sakura never could find the true reason for what happened. Whether it was the sheer proximity, the heat and intensity of the crowd, the unbelievable amounts of alcohol the provocative dancing, or the feelings that they both denied: they had kissed.

Sakura wrapped her arms around Gaara and he put his hand on the back of her head and the small of her back. They continued to shift until there was no space between them. The kiss lasted forever and not long enough all at the same time. When they pulled away Sakura's lips were slightly swollen from the pressure applied in the passion.

She smiled and leaned into him, her arms still wrapped around him. They'd stopped dancing long ago. Soon after that Sakura fell limp in his arms, finally passing out from the intoxication. The last thing she would remember was the scent of his cologne. Gaara picked Sakura up bridal style and headed back to the table.

Some time while they'd been on the dance floor Kiba had returned to the table alone, but not empty-handed. He'd picked up a few phone numbers. Sasuke was making out with a tall brown-haired boy rather passionately.

Kat was still resting on Kankuro's lap. Suppose she's a 'lap Kat'. She looked at the approaching Gaara with Sakura comfortably curled against him.

She gave him the thumbs up, and then nuzzled back into her napping position.

_**Posted: August 7, 2007  
Revamped: December 30, 2008**_


	3. Scared

**Edit number three, which means I'm all caught up, fixed up, rearing and ready to go. So hold on to your seat folks, coming up is some serious stuff that might upset you. But Gaara is a depressingly heart-wrenching character with a serious mean-streak. This story is not going to withhold that. It's not all daisies and sunshine. But it's pretty fluffy for a few chapters at least.**

**Chapter Three**:  
**Scared**

Sakura awoke slowly. She'd had the weirdest dream, and it was definitely not PG-13. She sat up in her bed and her covers fell to her waist. She looked down to discover that she was in a large T-shirt. She tried to remember what happened during the night but her only reward was a wave of pain. Her body was sore, which brought only more confusion.

She gripped her head as another surge of pain wracked her brain. She stood from the bed and realized that the T-shirt and a pair of girl's boxers were all she was wearing. The dingy pale green T-shirt and grey shorts were big, and she did not recall having them in her wardrobe.

While she stepped out of the room, still gripping her head, she was surprised to find that she was the only one that had been asleep still. She walked into the bathroom and found a glass of water and a few aspirin capsules on the counter. She downed them and then looked into the mirror.

Her hair was down in loose curls and the T-shirt and boxers hung off of her thin form like drapes. The eyeliner had smudged and she looked almost like a raccoon. She washed her face and reapplied the eyeliner then walked off to the room to find some clothes that fit.

She grabbed a pair of jean capris that had several tears and holes, and the butt was worn and faded from extreme use. She pulled them on and grabbed a pale blue and pink baby-doll shirt. She grabbed a pink bracelet and a pair of brown flip flops. She decided to leave her hair in the curls because they looked decent enough.

She brushed her teeth and headed downstairs. It was about noon. When Sakura got downstairs she saw that Kat was curled up on the couch napping. Sakura was beginning to wonder if the girl was indeed half cat. Kankuro was sitting on the couch next to her watching TV on mute. Sakura smiled at this.

She walked over to them and whispered "Where are the others?"

"Ino and Temari went shopping, Sasuke is out with his new friend from last night," Kankuro shuddered at the memory of the two making out. "Naruto and Kiba are at the gym. Gaara is surfing I think."

Sakura nodded and smiled then headed out the back towards the beach. She stepped out onto the sand and realized there was a lot of beach and Gaara could be anywhere. She walked to the shore and sat right at the waterline, so she wouldn't get wet.

She sat like that and eventually zoned out.

"_Sakura, you're not thinking."_

"_We shouldn't be doing this."_

"Sakura…"

Sakura came to and saw that Gaara stood in front of her. His cheeks were flushed red from the heat, or maybe from embarrassment? She half smiled at him, she couldn't remember much of what happened after they left the club, all she could remember was the kiss.

That wonderful kiss. He was a good kisser. Well, she was drunk so maybe things were a little fuzzy.

"Hey Gaara, how were the waves?" She said now fully smiling as she stood still facing him.

"The waves were– Sakura do you remember? Can you remember anything that happened?" He asked flustered and curious.

"Um…not much. I know that we…kissed, but it gets fuzzy after that. I guess…something happened that shouldn't have?"

Gaara scoffed and kept walking. This was important. She needed to remember, he couldn't just act like last night never happened.

Sakura walked up to his side staring at him. "Could you…tell me?"

"Hn."

He started to walk faster. He didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to erase it. It was a mistake, and it was entirely his fault. He'd ruined everything. She was drunk and he knew that, he should've stopped it.

_**AGHK**_

"I can't believe it. This shirt is, like, so not worth that much money." Ino said angrily tossing the shirt down.

"I'm tired of shopping; we've been at for hours." Temari sighed.

"Speaking of going at it for hours…"

Temari shoved her fingers in her ears and said "Honestly Ino, he's my brother. Please don't."

"I just didn't think they'd, like, hook up so fast."

"Do you think they…"

"Umm, well. Sakura was pretty drunk last night. And the noise coming from Gaara's room was pretty, like, porn sounding. I just didn't think Sakura would do something like that with someone she just met. But damn, they were fucking loud- no pun intended."

Temari shoved her fingers back in her ears and began singing horribly off key very loud. By that time though, the girls had already left the store and were on their way back to the car.

_**AGHK**_

Sakura and Gaara were sitting in the living room with Kankuro and his now awake girlfriend. Sakura was on one side of the living room in a rocking chair and Gaara was on the other side in the recliner with Kankuro and Kat in the middle on the couch. They all decided upon the Sponge bob movie. Once the movie was over Sakura and Kat stood up and both started to shout.

"I'm a goofy goober, yeah! You're a goofy goober, yeah! We're all goofy goobers, yeah! Goofy, goofy, goober, goober, yeah!" They danced around eccentrically and when they stopped they laughed loudly and went upstairs, leaving the boys in the living room wondering about the girl's mental stability.

When the girls got upstairs they sat on the floor of the loft giggling. When it died down Sakura got serious very quickly.

"Do you know what happened between me and Gaara last night? I was…really drunk and I don't remember. But I think Gaara's upset about it. He won't talk to me about it and is acting all weird."

Kat giggled and said "Yes, I know what you two did last night. You didn't bother covering it up or being quiet about it."

Sakura blushed and hid behind her hair.

"Did we…"

"I believe you did. I'm very sure that you both had a very good time last night. I think Gaara is just worrying like he always does. He probably thinks he took advantage of you."

"But he didn't, anything that happened was what I wanted to happen but was too shy to do."

"Yeah, that's what liquor does. Gives you the balls to do what you want, it's just sometimes we regret what we do. Most people don't know what they want. Gaara knows that."

Sakura smiled at Kat. "So…does everyone know?"

"Yeah…be glad you weren't up this morning. It was pretty brutal. Your friends all but attacked him. It was funny, but I felt kinda bad for him. He did put some clothes on you and put you in your own bed, though."

"Ugh. I need to talk to him. Explain things."

"You need to reassure him that you wanted it to happen. Otherwise he'll feel bad for the entire summer." Kat laughed.

"How long have you and Kankuro been together anyway?"

"About 4 and a half years. Kankuro is a real flirt, but I don't mind when he flirts with other girls. I know he loves me. He would never cheat on me."

Sakura recalled the way he sat there with Kat and the TV muted, respecting her nap. She smiled at how sweet it was. She pictured Gaara and herself in that position, and smiled wider.

"He's not most guys. So…don't hurt him." Kat said with a half smile on her face with her head tilted to the side.

"I couldn't if I tried."

_**AGHK**_

After Kat and Sakura talked for a little bit longer, Sakura went down to Gaara's room to talk to him.

She stood there for a long time, just staring at his door. She listened as the music blared through the door and coursed through the walls of the house. The songs changed until the world blurred together.

When Sakura blinked and came back to reality Kat was behind her, pushing her towards the door.

Sakura shook her head, smiled at Kat, and took a deep breath. She prepared herself for the awkward conversation that awaited her, and opened the door.

The lights were dark and Sakura couldn't see anything.

"Gaara…?" She said and the music stopped with a click. Her voice seemed so quiet and it echoed in the dark abyss of the room.

She started to walk forward her hands waving wildly around her so she wouldn't run into something. Finally she reached the bed; she felt her way around the side and sat on the edge.

"Gaara…?" Sakura said again. She got no response.

"If you don't want to talk to me that's fine, but I came here to talk to you so that's what I'm going to do." Sakura didn't get an answer so she continued.

"Gaara, I know I was really drunk last night. I was stupid and kept drinking even when I knew I'd reached my limit, because I was insecure last night. I didn't remember much of anything when I woke up, but I've been talking to Kat. She explained some things and I can remember a lot of what happened, now." Sakura paused when she felt the bed shift then continued.

"I can tell that you're upset. I want you to know something. I'm not mad at you at all about this, last night was not your fault. You didn't force me into anything. Just because I was drunk doesn't mean I wasn't conscious. I knew very well what I was doing, and I definitely wanted to do it. I just didn't remember it." The bed shifted again and then the covers moved and Sakura could feel Gaara leave the bed.

The silence of the room was eerie. She could hear Gaara's feet shuffle to the wall and then the click of the light switch. She lifted her gaze from the floor when she heard the shuffling of his feet again.

Gaara was soon leaning against the wall across from where she sat on the bed. He was looking at her so intensely that Sakura felt a weight on her shoulders. Her breathing became thick and heavy.

Finally she spoke.

"Gaara, I like you. I feel like I've known you forever, and we just met yesterday. I like you a lot and it scares me so much. I don't know if you feel the same way, but I wanted you to know how I felt. I want you to know that what happened last night is what I was wishing would happen since the moment I met you. I don't regret it, and I don't want you to, either."

Sakura stood from her spot on the bed and as she turned for the door there was a hand on her side. It tugged her backwards and spun her around.

Gaara's hand snaked around her waist and their bodies were pressed tightly together. Their faces were close. Sakura could feel his breath on her cheeks, but they were lost in each other's eyes. Her heart pounded in her chest like a gong and the reverberations sent waves of awareness throughout her body.

An entire conversation spoken through the pure emotions that floated across their eyes. After a few minutes Gaara spoke quietly.

"I like you, too."

Gaara bent down and kissed the side of her mouth. Sakura turned her head and kissed him fully on the lips. She tilted her head so that their noses wouldn't crush against each other. They kissed for seemingly endless seconds until at some point their tongues were darting around the other's mouth.

Sakura massaged Gaara's tongue trying her best not to seem as amateur as she felt. Gaara meanwhile was running his tongue along her lips, then across every tooth. He brushed against the roof of her mouth, and then explored her cheeks. He memorized each part of her mouth, and would probably relive the kiss several times until their next one.

Soon the couple found themselves on Gaara's bed. Sakura maneuvered her hands between them and under his shirt. His skin was free of blemishes and almost silken in texture. Sakura heard Gaara groan as she continued to run her hands all over his upper body.

Gaara in turn decided to return the favor, he ran his hands under her shirt and began to caress her every muscle.

By the time Kat poked her head in the check on the two (it had been a few hours) they were both shirtless. Hands were freely roaming all over and the kiss was heated and passionate no longer limited to just the mouth, but the ears, neck, chest, any patch of skin available.

Kat coughed and the two didn't stop, obviously too preoccupied. She laughed and that got the two to freeze. Sakura lifted off of Gaara and turned her head to see Kat. She smiled and blushed madly. Kat smirked and left the room, still giggling.

_**AGHK**_

Everyone was sitting at the dinner table eating the food Temari had prepared: Kid Cuisine microwave diners. She had attempted to show Sakura up by cooking even better than she had. Her chicken currently sat in the trash can black as coal with similar taste.

Kat looked up at Sakura who had been staring at Gaara just seconds ago. Sakura blushed and in turn Gaara blushed.

"Oh come on you two. Everyone in this fucking house knows you two are hooking up. You don't have to try to hide it and get all embarrassed." Kankuro spoke nonchalantly eating his baby corn.

Ino and Temari nearly choked on their chicken fingers trying not to burst with laughter. Sakura looked like she wanted to shrink away and Gaara looked like he was praying with all his might to be abducted by aliens.

Naruto and Kiba glared at Gaara. Sasuke spoke waving his spork in the air aggressively. "It was one time and Sakura was far from thinking straight, I'd hardly say that counts as 'hooking up'."

Kat giggled at the smug looks on Kiba and Naruto's faces.

"Well, you wouldn't say that if you guys had been here this afternoon. I caught them shirtless and so caught up in each other that they wouldn't have noticed if the house was on fire." Ino and Temari couldn't contain it this time and actually laughed hysterically.

Naruto and Kiba went back to their small portions of food, angry that they had failed to scare Gaara away from Sakura.

"Do you guys want to go to the movies? We could see that new movie with the creepy clown and the group that got locked in the circus." Kankuro suggested. The group all agreed upon the movie. Everyone was so busy talking about how exciting the movie would be they didn't see Sakura's wide-eyed look and the fact that she'd stopped eating at the mention of the movie.

After everyone but Sakura had finished their food they all got changed.

Sakura wore a brown t-shirt with a green and white striped tank-top over top. She wore dark jeans and white converses with multi-colored bracelets and a green choker.

Ino wore a pale purple baby-doll shirt and capris with vans. Temari wore a long-sleeved grey shirt with a purple T-shirt over top. The boys all wore T-shirts and jeans in an assortment of colors.

After about a half an hour the group made their way to the car that they'd take to the theater, Temari's car. The car was big, but still only a car so it was a tight squeeze for everyone. Kiba drove- because he'd begged, Naruto sat in the front seat. Temari sat in the back with Ino in her lap, Gaara sat with Sakura in his lap –because since everyone knew there was no sense in hiding it anymore. Kankuro sat with Kat in his lap and Sasuke had chosen not to come because he had a date with Benni. He was the guy that Sasuke had met at the bar earlier and had spent the day with.

Sakura was very surprised that he was still hanging around with the same guy; usually Sasuke blew through guys like tissues. She assumed it wouldn't last much longer, though.

After the group had situated themselves in the car they drove off to the movies. Sakura zoned out in some kind of inane effort to forget the movie she was about to go see. She really didn't like scary movies, and had intended to voice her opinion, but after everyone went on about how cool it looked and how thrilling it would be she couldn't speak up.

So there she sat in Gaara's lap, leaning against him, his arms wrapped casually around her waist, the steady rise and fall of his chest lifting her gently- why was she complaining again?

As Sakura was lulled into her false sense of security she drifted to sleep.

She awoke with a gentle shake to her arm. They had arrived at the theater. They walked to the line and when it was their turn they ordered their tickets for "Dead Circus 2: Return of the Psychopaths".

Sakura shivered at the title. Gaara, who was walking right next to Sakura, noticed her shiver and put his arm around her. She was slightly comforted until she took her seat in the theater.

The group chatted quietly while the pre-preview advertisements played. Soon the lights dimmed and the previews played. Sakura enjoyed the funny trailers and the friends began to choose the movies that they would see later in the summer.

Then the theater went completely dark and all you could hear was bone chilling laughter. Sakura jumped and lifted her knees to hug her legs tightly to her body.

A clown face suddenly appeared on the screen and shouted boo. Sakura screamed as did a few others and then the movie began.

It was just like any other unsettling feeling: When the bar locks you into your seat on a roller coaster, when it's your turn to go down the longest waterslide in the park, when you're in your room safe under your covers with the lights out and you hear a noise in the corner.

Oh yes, Sakura sat in her seat shivering. She knew the impending doom that awaited her, even if it was only a movie.

_**AGHK**_

Sakura had her head buried in her legs with her arms still wound tightly around her legs. She was trying not to cry as the surround sound of the theater let her hear the cackling from every angle. Before she had shielded her eyes one of the main characters had run off into the house of mirrors.

Sakura knew that the girl wouldn't make it out alive. And so she'd shielded her eyes so that she wouldn't see the gore.

Suddenly it went silent. After a few seconds Sakura lifted her head just in time to see the clown decapitate the girl. That left only one main character: The jock.

Sakura glanced around her, to her left was the isle so there was no one there, and to her right was Gaara who was utterly entranced by the movie. Ino and Temari were hugging each other. Kiba and Naruto were laid-back and uninterested. Kankuro was slurping away on his drink and Kat was…giggling?!

There was no mistaking it; the girl was staring at the screen giggling like a school girl.

'What could she _possibly_ find funny about this?' Sakura wondered. As she turned back to the screen she saw the only character left. A girl who had 'disappeared' early on in the film who happened to be 'the love of his life' was currently wielding a dagger pointed in his direction.

She was under the control of 'The Puppeteer'. Sakura bit her knee as she saw him just narrowly escape her seemingly unavoidable slash. Sakura sighed when she saw the girl fall to the ground no longer under control, but as the camera flashed back to the boys face it was blank. His eyes rolled into his head and you saw that when he had jumped away from the girl he had been distracted. 'Tickles the Clown' had taken the opportunity and stabbed him in the neck. Blood gushed out of the boys head and the camera began to zoom out of the circus. The credits started to roll but just as they made it mid-screen it stopped and Tickles appeared cackling "And you're next." He continued his maniacal laugh and the screen faded to black as the credits continued to roll.

Gaara stood from his chair and watched the group stand and stretch. He smiled at how stupid the movie was and turned to say this to Sakura. He didn't see her standing yawning and laughing at how dumb the movie was though. He saw her curled into herself, crying.

He squatted down in front of her and put his hand on her shoulder. Sakura jumped and her head shot up instantly. She relaxed back into her tears when she saw it was not Tickles, but Gaara.

"Sakura, it was only a movie."

"Easy for you to say." Sakura mumbled into her legs. Her tears had stopped but she was breathing unsteadily as an aftershock of the cry.

"_Sakura._" Gaara searched for some kind of logic that would prove that it was just a film and Tickles would not come and stab her. "Look, Tickles and all his evil buddies all live in that circus. They haunt _that_ circus."

"I _know_ that. I _did_ watch the freakin' movie."

"Well, do you plan on going to Milwaukee and heading into The South Westerville Circus?"

She sniffled "No."

"Then you should be safe, right?"

Sakura sniffled a bit more than nodded. Gaara picked her up bridal style and the group left the theater. But just as they opened the door a man dressed up as Tickles jumped in front of them.

Sakura immediately shoved her face into Gaara's chest and started crying.

As Ino walked by she jabbed a finger at the guy's chest and growled "Nice job, asshole."

Naruto gestured as if he would hit the guy and the obviously dressed up employee flinched and almost fell into a trashcan.

The group squeezed into the car a little tighter this time, so that Sakura could have more room. The entire ride back Gaara rocked her and cooed to her, whispered nice things in her ears, soothed her, wiped her tears, and kissed her forehead. By the time they got home the tears were gone and she was silently lying in his arms staring at his chest with a blank expression.

Everyone went to their respective rooms, tired from the long day. Gaara got the top of the stairs and Sakura tugged on his shirt. She was looking up at him with such innocent, sad, pleading eyes that he knew he couldn't refuse anything she'd ever ask of him.

"Gaara…can I sleep in your bed tonight? Just for tonight, I'm still kinda scared and I don't wanna be alone. I don't want to be a burden, but I would…just feel safer with you."

After Sakura finished Gaara smiled and nodded then began to walk to his room holding her hand.

When he had Sakura settled in his bed he turned off the light and got into his pajamas. This consisted of no shirt and pajama pants. Sakura changed into one of his shirts, too afraid to go into her room and change.

Gaara got under the covers and got comfortable then Sakura snuggled up against him. In the warmth of the moment –not just physical warmth but the warmth of comfort and the safety she felt- she relaxed.

After a few minutes in a half conscious goodnight she said in a sigh "I love you." and drifted off the sleep.

_**Posted: August 15, 2007  
Revamped: January 3, 2009**_


	4. HEY!

Notice: Alright. So I just ran through all the previous chapters and fixed the silly mistakes and tied up a few loose ends. I changed Chapter Three quite a bit. So, if you don't re-read it all at least re-read Chapter Three. I know it's been a year, and that's pretty damn ridiculous. But, I'm going to be writing up the new chapters now. So HURRAY! New chapters will be up in a week or so. [It takes longer to type up a chapter than to read and edit one. And I'm starting back up at school again so I won't have the free time.]

ANYWAY! This is just a notice to let everyone know that this stories not dead. If you do plan on reading it, please leave reviews. Let me know what you think is gonna happen. What you want to happen. Some plot ideas. Anything you want. I'll reply to them.

Hope you have a great 2009!


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